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I put this in another thread but it is China related , more so than too DPRK, is it not bad enough they have Un saying they will use nukes , and now South Korea saying they want it back,or the right to make it.
S. Korea needs tactical nuke to send message to China: Rep. Chung
By Lee Chi-dong
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Yonhap) -- A visiting South Korean political heavyweight claimed Monday his country should go nuclear to send a political message, especially to China.
Rep. Chung Mong-joon, a seven-term lawmaker who served as the head of South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party, said Beijing, preoccupied with such issues as Tibet and Taiwan, has put the North Korean nuclear problem on the back burner.
"In terms of North Korea, China wants to maintain the status quo, reluctant to be active in putting pressure on it," he told South Korean correspondents in Washington. He is visiting to attend the two-day 2013 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference.
He is scheduled to deliver a speech during Tuesday's session, in which he plans to clarify his view on why South Korea should demand the return of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons or move to develop its own nuclear capability.
The U.S. pulled all of its tactical nuclear weapons, which can be delivered by artillery or missile, out of South Korea in 1991 as the two Koreas signed an agreement calling for the denuclearization of the peninsula and inter-Korean rapprochement.
The North has clearly violated the deal, but the South has not declared it nullified yet.
Chung said Seoul should persuade Washington to bring back nuclear weapons to the peninsula.
"Possessing nuclear weapons is the best way to counter North Korea's nuclear threats," he said. "It would send a strong political message not only to North Korea but also to China."
It would make China take seriously the international community's push for the denuclearization of North Korea, as Beijing's cooperation is indispensable, he added.
Such an argument by Chung, educated in the U.S. and seen as a potential presidential candidate, is not new. He first publicly called for the return of tactical nuclear bombs.
But his claim apparently gains more public support in South Korea these days following North Korea's third nuclear test in February.
Military tensions in Korea have been sharply heightened in recent weeks amid Pyongyang's bellicose statements and actions.
Chung's calls are also sensitive among U.S. officials and experts campaigning for nonproliferation.
They take a lukewarm approach toward Seoul's efforts to leave the door open for enriching uranium and reprocessing spent fuel for civilian purposes in a bilateral agreement that is currently being negotiated.
"The issue of the atomic energy cooperation pact should be considered separately (with my suggestions)," Chung stressed.
He also said South Korea should scrap a plan to take over the wartime operational control of its own troops from the U.S. in 2015.
"The U.S. should halt a scheme to move the Second Infantry Division to a base south of the Han River in Seoul," he added. "The U.S. will also have to push for direct talks with North Korea to put a top priority on the denuclearization issue."
Chung said he met with Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state, in New York before arriving in Washington.
"I explained my ideas (to him)," Chung said, without elaborating on Kissinger's response.
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(END)
Un is not having the backing he needs from china, if he does do an act or war or commits to war China just might teach him a lesson he'll never for get
Beijing can push Pyongyang to conciliation
Global Times | 2013-4-9 18:48:01
By Yang Lei
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The US and South Korea began their annual joint military exercises on March 1, which will continue to April 30. North Korea has taken a series of measures, including cutting off the military hotline with South Korea and attempting to convince embassies to evacuate.
In the past, the North has alternated tension and easing. First, it creates large-scale tensions, and, after achieving its target, it then implies the possibility of dialogue or negotiation.
Behind the current high-profile actions, I believe North Korea expects the international community to get involved in the crisis, and mediate to help it get breathing room.
North Korea continuously escalates its offensive rhetoric to draw attention from the international community. It hopes that surrounding countries can get involved and provide a way to ease the situation.
After April, the situation in the Korean Peninsula may be more relaxed.
The US and South Korea have claimed that they will resolutely fight back if the North launches a military provocation. Once there is an armed conflict, North Korea may suffer greater losses. South Korea is unlikely to escalate it into a full-scale war, since it knows well that the entire nation will pay a painful price if it uses force to achieve reunification.
The US also wants to maintain the status quo on the peninsula. It uses the North Korean problem as an excuse to adjust its Asia-Pacific strategy without devoting more energy or resources. The US tries its best to shirk its responsibilities for the current failures in solving North Korea's nuclear problem and urges China to take more responsibilities.
After South Korean President Park Geun-hye took office, South Korea's policy toward North Korea has taken a different path from the US. Park has said that if North Korea returns to the right path, South Korea will improve the relationship with it through promoting a confidence-building process.
China's policy toward North Korea is in the process of adjustment. The differences between US and South Korean policy toward North Korea create external conditions for China's North Korean policy transformation.
China can continue to impose necessary sanctions on North Korea to make North Korea deeply aware of the importance of outside assistance and the strategic significance of China's support.
Such pressure should push North Korea to ease relationship with South Korea. Then the next step for China is to persuade North Korea and South Korea to hold dialogues and offer North Korea a way out.
The author is an associate professor of the Department of International Relations at Nankai University.